HOW WE'RE HELPING GARDENERS DURING COVID-19:
While we can't meet you in person until the health crisis ends, our volunteers are still active and available to assist you online.
We are currently offering virtual advice clinics, presentations and workshops via Zoom. Here are just a few of the many presentations we offer:
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Houseplants: Our Constant Garden
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Landscaping with Trees and Large Shrubs
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Putting the Garden to Bed
Have a garden question? Visit our Ask a Master Gardener page.
We'll update this notice if things change. Meanwhile, stay safe, and happy gardening.
Kudos to LEAF, OPG's Regional Biodiversity Program, Regional Municipality of York, City of Richmond Hill and other municipalities in York and Durham. They will plant 6,000 native trees / shrubs on public lands over the next 3 years!!
Image: LEAF
#leaf_org #trees #treeplanting
Turns out restoring burnt out forests by planting more naturally just might save them the next time wildfires start.
bit.ly/34w39ik
How to redesign a forest: restoring California’s trees in the age of fire
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How scientists are making sure increasingly powerful fires don’t wipe out forests forever.Good advice from Fine Gardening: If you don’t tidy your garden shed now, there might not be room to move containers, hoses, and patio furniture in next month. Sort through the contents and either find a place for everything on the pegboard (install a pegboard!) or give away.
A Green Venture Hamilton video shows the changes a Master Gardener made to her yard with assistance from Conservation Halton, Hamilton Conservation Authority, Cootes to Escarpment and the Hamilton Watershed Stewardship Program. Excellent work by all! bit.ly/3d4uc8h
Native plants for pollinators with a Master Gardener - Virtual Green Infrastructure Tour
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Join Green Venture on a tour of innovative Hamilton gardens! At this stop, we join a Master Gardener on a tour of her beautiful yard full of native species a...Been saving your leaves? Get your neighbours' too! Composted leaves are “gardeners’ gold”. .A 2-metre pile will break down dramatically over winter. Or, save leaves in plastic garbage bags. If you are able to shred the leaves first, composting will begin immediately.
Cutting back your perennials in the fall or in the spring is a personal choice. Consider cutting back only those whose foliage and seed heads don’t contribute to the beauty of your garden. The birds will thank you.
So you grew great carrots and parsnips this year! But what do you do with that bounty over the winter? The answer: sand.
www.growveg.com/guides/storing-root-vegetables-in-sand/
Add organic matter to your veggie garden now. Remove all crop residue and weeds. Add chopped leaves, compost, manure to a depth of 4-6 cm and let creatures living in the soil turn the organic matter into food for next year’s crops.
When is saving leaves NOT a good idea? When they are diseased. Diseased leaves should be removed from under trees and shrubs, but do not put them in your compost pile.
Image: University of Wisconsin.
Master Gardeners of Ontario
Compost Council of Canada
Toronto Region Conservation Authority
Toronto Botanical Gardens
City of Toronto
